Yep, it is their choice and its not surprising they don't want to leave their super senior position, but let's get your fact straight on how things are at DL:

Getting to a widebody soon? 7ER is held within just a few numbers of the bottom of the list. ATL, DTW, and NYC are all the junior bases. The last class has people in all 3 last I checked. Newhires will primarily be going to ATL and DTW with a sprinkling of NYC. MSP is a bit more senior now but that will change.

I've been home at least part of Christmas day all of the 6 Christmas's that I've been here. I can think of only one Christmas eve that I've missed.

 

I didn't judge anyone. If somebody wants to stay senior at a regional then that's fine with me. I understand completely. I'm just saying that it would also not be a bad decision to come fly as a F/O at one of the majors for a few years.
If they've had 30 years of Christmas at home and their kids are grown, maybe it wouldn't exactly be devastating to spend the holiday in London or Paris. (actually the German layovers are the best around Xmas in my opinion) Delta gives special passes to spouses to go along on trips over holidays. Believe me, wives love the Christmas market on the Marienplatz in Munich.

With regard to flying international as a junior new hire - we've seen this movie before. New York City 767ER is going to go junior. Guaranteed. Maybe not immediately because of the company needs to fill some open MD-88 and 717 seats, but shortly thereafter.

 

Hmm, I'm as upbeat as the next guy, and don't wanna rain on anybody's parade, but really? The only reason it went junior before is because guys like me didn't bid it initially. Now that we have, and with the draw down of the ER, I'll be lucky to hold a line in the near future. If the company already said that they're not going to backfill attrition off the plane, how is a new hire going to get on it? Not to mention my 2000-2001 peers who are returning?

 

We'll see, but history shows that reserve in NYC goes junior.
Draw down or not, I'll bet that holds true.

 

Reserve junior, yes, but on the M88. Historically, the ER was a senior plane. When I was hired, you couldn't even think of touching 767 domestic category with less than 10 years, let alone International.


What ya offering? I hope what you say comes true, I also just hope it doesn't fill new hires with unrealistic expectations. Kinda like SWA hiring. Sure, that's great, but those guys are gonna be 15-20 years in the right seat barring any massive growth.

 

LOL someone has to work x-mass, obviously you'd be senior so you won't. Maybe sit reserve on wide body? Holy Shiny Jet Syndrome Batman! No thanks, I'll take QOL over SJS anyday. Besides Int flying is going to foreign carriers We can all spilt hairs and play, what if scenarios, yeah but I'm still right cause... for the next six pages.

My original contention was the "entitlement" comment for not applying to Delta. It was an uneducated comment. Don't judge a person till you walk a mile in their shoes, understand their values. Work to live not live to work. Especially when you're about to retire.

PS I have no interest in going to DAL to finish out the final leg of my career. But I support everyone (aka senior) that does apply

 

I think anyone can understand your position who values QOL more than $$$ to a point. For me, I had 2-3 careers going at once, I think I was on the other end of the spectrum. Personally, I feel retired just doing DAL now. There is nothing wrong with your path at all.

I am not a big fan of uneducated comments either. However, there have been some "entitlement" minded posters on here recently. It isn't frustrating really, but there is an element of the competitive hiring process that brings some pride to the job/company. This is probably the element "we" don't want to lose.

You're right, Clamp is super senior with 6 years on property and probably just past his 30th birthday.

 

Anyone with more than 3 years to go in their career should be trying to get out of a regional... because theres no guarentee that company will even exist by then. To not try to do so would be foolish.

 

Wish you could of been around to tell Pan Am guys, Kiwi, National, Aloha, TWA, Vanguard, Tower Air, Chaulk Air, your sage advice. They were foolish to then?

 

For the most part, a rational person would've come to the conclusion that they were pretty secure (for a pilot) in their careers... at least at Pan Am, National (the old one), Aloha, TWA, and Chalk's.

Nobody can say that for a regional. At a regional you're on the wrong end of being a cost to be minimized and just one sheet of paper, your service agreement... which expires and can be renegotiated, is what keeps you in your job. You don't have a solid business plan, customer base, market developed, or anything like a real airline. You're working for a labor outsourcing company. And we all know how that goes.

Kiwi, National (the newer one, and especially the newest one), Vanguard, and Tower... yeah those were risks. I don't think anyone, who could make it at a career airline, really thought it would be better to make it a career at any of these. If so, yeah, that would've been a foolish decision.